Ecological Living and all that goes into it. Here are some of my favorite Architectural Plans and ideas for rural sustainable living, off the grid. Surely, if I had it to do all over again, Architecture would have been added to my metier. It's never too late!
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Self-Contained Housing Delivery System
Thailand

Background

Conceived at the Habitech Center of AIT the Self-Contained Housing Delivery System is
an inexpensive, quickly and easily erected building system, the cost of which consistently
undercuts conventional construction systems. Components have been added to create a
complete modular interlocking building system especially suited for construction by
unskilled labour which eliminates the need for construction equipment as the components
are lightweight. The system has been disseminated in Asia since 1987 when research and
development started up to 1995 when the building system was made available through private
sector equipment suppliers.
The technology was demonstrated through housing projects (75) in Thailand, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea,
Nepal and Fiji, where small scale building material industries have been set-up creating
employment, generating income and producing affordable housing for middle and low income
groups.
As the building system spreads through Asia, the beneficial reduction in the
consumption of timber products for construction will lead to a salutary effect upon the
environment and help reduce the depletion of forest.
Habitech Center was awarded the Matsushita Award by the Japan Housing Association in
1994 "in recognition of excellent achievements in improving human settlements in
Asian countries by promoting research and development related to technologies for low cost
housing as well as providing educational programs and facilities to disseminate the
results of their research efforts".

Narrative

The Self-Contained Housing Delivery System - SCHDSystem -

Originally conceived as a method for providing fire and wind resistant shelters for use
in natural or man made disasters (including squatters eviction and resettlements) the
SCHDSystem developed at Habitech Center, Asian Institute of Technology has grown to be an
inexpensive, quickly and easily erected building system, the cost of which consistently
undercuts conventional construction systems by 30 to 50 %.
Compatible building components have been successively added with the objective of
creating a complete modular interlocking building system especially well suited for
construction by unskilled labour. Furthermore to eliminate the need for heavy construction
equipment all the components have been designed to be lightweight, requiring no more than
four persons to manually put each component in place, without the need for complex
equipment, thus reducing the requirement for capital investment. The building system is an
open one where any of the components may be substituted by a locally available one if
cheaper.

So far, all housing and social infrastructure projects built using the system have used
inexpensive moulds and machines, making the technology labour intensive and particularly
well suited for small and medium scale projects.
The rapid rise in the cost of timber and the equally rapid depletion of forest
reserves, with consequent aggravation to the environment, make imperative the use of
alternative materials to replace the use of timber in the construction of housing,
particularly for the lower income sectors which make wide use of it. Considerable progress
in this direction has been achieved with the development of the SCHDSystem which has
successfully substituted composite construction for wood in floor systems, in the frame of
doors and windows, in stringers and treads for staircases and in roof structures. As proof
of these successful substitutions, the cost of housing built with the system is
considerably below that of conventional houses. As the building system spreads through
Asia, the beneficial reduction in the consumption of timber products for construction may
lead to a salutary effect upon the environment.
It is estimated with the multiplier effect, that the transfer of technology to
implement projects resulted in a total increase of the GDP of the Asians countries
equivalent to approximately 5 millions US$ and that approximately 2000 employment
opportunities have been directly created by the installation of SCHDSystems to produce the
building materials and in the construction of houses.
The building system has been disseminated in Asia initially through building material
producers and projects initially selected by Habitech on the basis of the impact they
would have in demonstrating the technology. As many countries as possible were selected to
disseminate the technology worldwide. AIT being an institute based in Thailand it is
natural that Asia is the region where most of the projects have been implemented. Since
the transfer, production and promotion capacity of Habitech is limited, linkages with
different groups involved in the construction sector has been a key activity to further
promote the use of the technology.

Within the scope of the projects being carried out in different countries, the question
of whether the technology could be produced locally has always been explored with the
objective of further reducing the cost of the equipment by eliminating costs associated
with shipping, import taxes and customs clearance. The implementation of projects in
different countries has permitted Habitech to establish relations with two types of
potential partners: institutions and the private sector.

One of the marketing strategies employed has been to invite groups of NGOs involved in
housing projects to participate in a series of seminars and workshops held in their
countries. A host NGO would receive a typical production unit and would later act as a
resource center for the technology. These seminars have been held so far in most SE Asian
countries and the strategy has had success as more contacts have been established with
institutions and NGOs and the private sector.

Habitech is now involved in marketing the technology with the private sector in Asian
countries through the formation of joint ventures projects with the local private sector
involved in housing. New developments from the research carried out at Habitech is passed
on to past and future recipient of the building system.

Impact

2000 jobs created in the construction sector

5 million US$ added to the GDP of Asians countries

construction of 3500 affordable houses for middle and lower income groups per year

reduction of timber used in construction

Sustainability

Building materials in developing countries are the single largest input in construction
activities followed by labour. In terms of shelter and basic infrastructure for the poor,
building materials are frequently the main issue in the production of housing as labour
can be provided through self-help and community participation approaches to house
construction.
So far a large proportion of the building components used in the construction of shelter
by lower income groups, which constitute the majority of the population in developing
countries, have been produced in small scale units. Building components produced in a
manner that relate to traditional processes can make a significant contribution to
national economic development as evidence by higher employment and skill generation, as
well as economic multiplier effects achieved through backward and forward linkages to
other sector of the economy.
Thus small scale building material production would by definition have few employees,
little capital investment and a limited volume of output and would likely show other
characteristics such as production with locally available materials, produce for local
markets at intermittent levels of production.
The generally low level of skills required by the SCHDSystem as a small scale production
unit, as well as the low cost of labour and material input and the low level of capital
required to start production, means that producing building components is relatively easy
and presents no insuperable barriers.
The answer to low cost housing lies in a housing strategy employing systematized
construction systems as an integral part of the informal housing sector. These systems
allow for the use of non skilled labour in the production and the construction of the
houses as well as the use of raw material that can transformed locally.

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About Me

I live between Oxford, North Carolina, New York City USA and Panajachel, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, Central America; build and garden in both. LOVE IT!
Aquarius, Year of the Tiger
Email info and suggestions to CatherineTodd2 (at) gmail (dot) com.